Civility and Stress Vidal vs. Cohn: A Civil Clash Over McCarthyism
Civility and Stress
Vidal vs. Cohn: A Civil Clash Over McCarthyism
by James Porter
Every once in a while, I stumble across a piece of television history that feels like a time capsule. Recently, I watched a 22-minute debate from the 1970s between Gore Vidal, the world-famous author and public intellectual, and Roy Cohn, the hard-edged lawyer best known for his work with Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare of the 1950s. The exchange was spirited, at times tense, but what struck me most was the way it ended — with civility and mutual respect, even as the two men disagreed on just about everything.
To appreciate the significance of this moment, it helps to understand who these two figures were. Gore Vidal was an internationally celebrated novelist and essayist, known for his sweeping historical novels like Burr and Lincoln as well as his razor-sharp social commentary. He leaned liberal, never shied away from intellectual combat, and relished a good debate. Roy Cohn, on the other hand, rose to national prominence as McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Army-McCarthy hearings. He built a reputation as a ruthless legal tactician and, decades later, became one of Donald Trump’s personal lawyers and mentors. Cohn’s approach to law and politics was blunt: attack hard, never apologize, and always stay on offense.
The debate centered on the legacy of McCarthyism. By the 1970s, the term “McCarthyism” had long since entered the English language as shorthand for reckless accusations, character assassination, and guilt by association. Vidal expressed amazement that this dark period of American history — with its blacklists, ruined careers, and climate of fear — could still have defenders. He pointed out that “McCarthyism” had become an adjective describing baseless smears, and wondered aloud how anyone, two decades later, could still stand by it.
Cohn did. He insisted that communism was not a phantom menace but a genuine threat still spreading around the world in the 1970s. When pressed about the blacklisting of Hollywood writers and directors, Cohn deflected by noting that those actions were carried out by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), not by McCarthy himself, who was a senator. In other words, according to Cohn, McCarthy had been unfairly saddled with the sins of others.
Then came the twist I didn’t see coming. Cohn added that McCarthyism wasn’t simply a Republican crusade. “I’m a Democrat,” he said, reminding the audience that McCarthy had chosen him, a member of the opposing party, to work alongside him. It was a startling reminder that the rigid partisan divides we take for granted today were once more porous, and that loyalty to ideology sometimes outweighed loyalty to party label.
The sparring continued, but what truly surprised me was how it ended. After twenty minutes of sharp disagreement, Vidal concluded by saying that although he disagreed with almost everything Cohn had said, he would nonetheless want Cohn as his lawyer should the need ever arise. Cohn, for his part, told Vidal that while he also disagreed with him, he found Vidal to be “a very charming man.” And with that, the program ended.
Think about that for a moment. Two men who stood on opposite poles of the political spectrum — one a liberal intellectual who despised McCarthyism, the other McCarthy’s chief defender — could trade pointed arguments and still walk away offering compliments. They didn’t pretend to agree, nor did they soften their views. But they modeled something we see too little of today: the ability to disagree vigorously without descending into bitterness or contempt.
Watching this old footage, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for a time when public debate could be both tough and civil. The Vidal–Cohn exchange shows us that disagreement doesn’t have to mean disdain, and that even adversaries can end with respect. In our current climate of hyper-partisanship, that lesson feels more relevant than ever. And when we lower the heat in a debate, we lower the stress as well.
Erica Tuminski
Author